Supporting means for press platens



S. N; BALDWIN- SUPPORTING MEANS FOR PRESS PLATENS March- 14, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Au 8, 1947 March 14, 1950 Filed Avg. 8, 1947 s. N. BALDWIN 2,500,791 SUPPORTING MEANS FOR PRESS IPLATENS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTO'R Jo UTHA RD N. BAIVLDWV/N March 14, 1950 s, BALDWIN 2,500,791

SUPPORTING MEANS FOR PRESS PLATENS I Filed Aug. 8, 1947 Z5 Sheets-Sheet 3 I INVENTOR JourHARD/V BALDW/N QKWM ' AT-ro R N EY Patented Mar. 14, 1950 UNITED:

STATES; PATENT OFFICE Southard N. Baldwin, GreentRidge, Ba assi gnorz' to The BaldwinLocomotivesWorks, moor-para.

tion .of:Pennsylvania Application'August"8, 1947, Serial'No; 767,635

7 Claims; 1

This: invention relates generally to platen presseswhich employ a plurality. of platens or plates for. applying in a well-known manner; pressure and heat simultaneously to moldable sheet-like material, and'more particularly to improvements for supportingthe platens in diiierent spaced relations to each other and for vary ing the length of the stroke of the moving platen in accordance with suchspacing of the platens. When a press of this type stands open, it is desirable that the platens should be spaced apart only sufliciently to receive conveniently a new charge of material. If the'platens are spaced too far apart, then an excess amount of time and power is required to open and close. the platens. Inasmuch asthe thickness of material may vary'from job to job it is desirable to be be able to adjust the Spacing of the platens to suit the material. As the press is closed, the platens, commencing with the lowest one, are

successively lifted off their respective supporting members by an upwardly moving platen, attached to the ram of the press until all platens have been so removed from their supports and each sheet of material brought into contactwith the, platen immediatelyv above it when compression of the material'begins. As the press is opened, the reverse action takes place. The platens movedownwardly as the movingplaten is low-- ered by the ramand are deposited successively, beginning with the uppermost platen, on their, respective supporting members until all the platens have been so returned to their original spaced positions. Variousdevices and arrangements, such as, for example, saddles, spacer blocks and stephangers, have been employed to provide adjustable platen supporting means that are designed to space the platens a predetermined distance apart. Such schemes, however, have proved cumbersome and inadequate in many instances, do not provide for close adjustments of the platens and, inaddition, require the complete or partial removal from the press of they supporting members and the use of tools to accomplish this end. After depositing the lowermost platen on its supporting members, as above described, the moving platen continues. down-- Wardly to the end of its maximum down-stroke. This latter portion ofthe downstroke of the moving platen and the corresponding upstroke thereof form no useful purpose in the operation of the press and are therefore a waste of power and time. When the plates are spaced far apart these ineffective portions of the-moving platen stroke are relatively short but as the platesare spaced closer together such strokes increaseiin lengthand'in a pressproviding for close adjustements of the platens; these lengthy andinefiective strokes become a'consideration inthe eco-- nomical operation of the press;

An object of myinvention is to provide ime proved platen supporting means'that allows the platens to-be adjusted in relatively small increments, pref erablyv in" uniform smalll fractions of the maximum distance of adjustment.

other.

A further: obj ectiof my invention is to :provideimproved platen supporting means thatis re1a".---

tively simple and economical in construction;

operation: and maintenance, and allows theplatens to be adjusted quickly and easily to their: various positions;

A still further object is to provide control; means for the moving platen that areadjustable:

according to. a predetermined spacing of the: adjustable platens to limit.the'maximumstroke of the moving platen to a stroke that will merely; raise and lower the adjustable platens, no matter;

' what the'spaced relation of the adjustable platens;

might be.

Other objects and" advantages will" be more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is: a front elevation of a. steam, platen press of the. type described, employing my invention:

Fig; 2 is. a perspectiveof part of the left-hand, corner; of said press, asaviewed inFig. 1;

Fig. 3' is a, perspective of one of the platen guides showing its attachment tov an adjustable;

platen;

Fig. 4 is: a cross; sectional plan view of saidpressalong the line.4--4'of Fig; 1;

Figs. 5 and dare-plan views of th'etwo types;

of supporting fingers employed in my invention-;:, Figs; 7 and 8 are elevational .viewsofsaidtypes-r of supporting fingers and Fig. 9 is a'vertical sectional view of myadjustable moving platen control means. In the particular embodimentofi the invention which is disclosedherein merely for the purpose of illustrating one'specific form amongpossible: others *thatthe invention might take in: practice; Ishow in Fig. 1 ausual steam platen. press..hav.---v

3 ing a cylinder 1, a ram 2, a moving platen 3 aflixed to the ram, an upper crosshead or platen 4 supported in the usual and well-known manner on four vertical tension columns 5 whose lower ends are connected to the cylinder, and a plurality of vertically adjustable hot plates or steam platens B. These plates are maintained in vertical alignment by platen rings 1 affixed to the corners of each adjustable platen and slidable on the tension columns. The rings 1 for each column are divided into two general groups 8 and 9, Fig. 1, respectively having supporting lugs ID to [4 and 15 to I8. The lugs within a group, certain of which are shown invFig. 2, are of different lengths, and the lugs l5l8 of the upper group are shown preferably tangential to the rings while the lugs ill-l4 of the lower group are offset with respect to the upper group of lugs. Cooperating with these lugs to support the same are two groups of supporting elements consisting of a lower group I9 to 23 and an upper group 24 to 21. Each of said elements has an annular collar 28 vertically and rotatably movable on finger support columns 29, 30, 3| and 32, Fig. 4, located at each of four corners of the press parallel and adjacent to the tension columns 5. It will be understood that the platen lugs and supporting fingers therefor are duplicated at each of the four corners of the press and hence the description for one corner will suflice for all. The annular collars 28 of the lower group have supporting fingers 3342 extending from opposite sides of their respective collars and, as shown in Fig. 2, are tangential to opposite sides thereof. The oppositely extending fingers of each collar are of the same length but the length of the fingers of successive collars are of different length. Similar supporting fingers 43-50, Fig. 1, are provided on the collars of the upper group but as seen in Fig. 2, and particularly Figs. 5 and 6, these fingers are tangential to their collars on the opposite diagonal side to that of the fingers 33-42 of the lower group. The pair of fingers of each collar have landings 5| and 52, Figs. 5 to 8, at slightly different levels, the landing 52 being a recess and being preferably halfway between adjusting holes form having a pivotal cross latch 55 to permit ready removal from or insertion in a suitable hole of the collar aligned with holes 53.

OperationPlaten adjusting means When the press is in the open position as shown in Fig. 2 each platen is supported upon its respective supporting fingers. To close the press, the ram 2 and ram platen 3 will successively lift the platens off their supporting fingers. However, there will be no interference between the platen lugs and the supporting fingers because of the different lengths of the lugs and fingers and the offset relation of the same. For instance, as shown in Fig, 2, lug I 3 will follow along a dotted line 56 which clears the end of finger 4| and then because of the lateral offset relation between lug I3 and finger 43 will clear the latter by passing back of the same. Similarly lug [3 will pass behind the remaining oilset fingers of the upper group thereof. Lug I4 will similarly pass alongside of the offset fingers 43, 45, etc., of the upper group as indicated by the dotted line 5?. Lugs [5, I6, etc., of the upper group will clear the ends of the successively shorter fingers 45, 41 etc. of the upper group as shown by dotted lines 56a. Thus, it is seen that even though the supporting fingers are of different lengths and even though they are quite close together there will never be any interference between the lugs and the various supporting fingers. This arrangement allows a high degree of flexibility in adjusting the supporting fingers to various positions even though they might be very close to each other or the incremental change in spacing might be quite small. The collar 28 by engaging columns 29 to 32 on their opposite sides insures maximum supporting strength even though only a single pin 54 is used. The use of a single pin allows the collars to be of very small axial length thereby in turn permitting the collars to be brought very close to each other. The pin also functions as a fulcrum to assist in having the collars take a gripping bite on columns 29 to 32 due to the cantilever action of the supporting fingers. While I have preferably shown the collars of circular form, yet the foregoing principle can be accomplished with other equiva- To obtain very small adjustmentsetc. are respectively of the same length as fingers. 33, 35, 31, 39 etc. and are diagonally opposite in' the same relation to the collar as fingers 33, 35, 31, 39, etc., so that when the collar is rotated the same relationship is maintained with respect to the supporting lugs. It will be noted that the recessed landing 52 lies midway between any two successive holes 53 of the finger supporting columns 29 to 32 thereby permitting the column holes to be placed sulficiently far apartto obtain necessary strength but without sacrificing the ability to have a landing at a level intermediate of adjacent holes.

Stroke limiting mechanism In view of the close adjustments of the adjustable platens possible with my improved platen supporting means, as above described, a large part of the maximum stroke of the moving platen would be ineffective when the adjustable platens are closely spaced, for only a relatively small portion of such stroke would be used to raise and lower the platens.

means with its highly variable adjustable relation, I provide control means for the movingv platen, shown in Figs. 1 and 8. Welded or other-.

wise rigidly afiixed to moving platen 3 is the upper end of a vertical tube 58 having a hole 59. A rod 6|] slidable within tube 58 has a series of holes 61 spaced apart a distance equal to the sum of all the minimum spacings between the platens. A bolt 62 may be inserted in any of the aligned holes of the tube and rod. Screwthreaded into the lower end of rod 60 is a threaded shank 63 of an adjusting screw 54 having an enlarged head 65 with usual spanner recesses and a lock nut 66. This support for the moving platen is adjustable by removing bolt 62, sliding the rod in or out of the tube until hole 59 of the tube registers with one of the equally spaced holes 6| that will give the rod and tube assembly the required length, and then re-inserting the bolt;

To overcome this in coop-' eration with. my improved platen supporting in these registering holes. After the moving platen has deposited the lowest adjustable platen on its finger supports, it continues to move downwardly until the moving plate or a steam plate affixed thereto is spaced from the last adjustable platen a distance equal to the space between any two adjacent platens. At this point head 65 of adjusting screw 54 comes into contact with a horizontal surface 61 of the cylinder and stops the moving platen from further downward movement, holding the moving platen at this point in readiness to begin its upward stroke when the press is again to be closed. As adjustable platens are spaced closer to ether or farther apart, a corresponding adjustment of the moving platen control means is of course necessary. If a number of control means are circumferentially disposed about and affixed to the sides of a moving platen of a press, the moving platen or a steam plate affixed thereto can be adjusted to a horizontal p ane if necessary by opening the press until heads 65 of adjusting screws 64 come into contact with horizontal surfaces 67, then loosening locking nuts 66 and turning heads 65 to the right or left to lower or raise the moving platen as may be indicated by a spirit level on the top of the moving platen.

From the d sclosure herein, it is seen that I have prov ded a sim le, expedient and highly flexib e platen sup ortin means which can be adjusted without the aid of tools and without removin anv art from the ress, exce t a small bolt, and which can be easily a dspeedily adjusted to space the plat ns vertically from zero to a maximum d s ance in uni orm and relatively small fract ons of such maximum distance and, in conjunction with sa d platen supportin means, mov ng platen control means are ad ustable to limit the maximum stroke of the moving platen to a stroke whose entire length will be used to ra se and lower the adju table platens no matter in what s aced relation they may be.

It will of course be understood by those sk lled in the art that various chan es may be made in the construction and arran ement of parts without depart ng from the s irit of the invention as set orth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A platen press havin a luralit of platens each prov ded with a sup ortin port on, a co umn. means co tacting o po ite s d s of said column a d having an element extending laterally therefrom to enga e sa d laten su port ng portion, and means whereby the we ht of the platen tends to tilt the contactin means into a frictional su porting contact with the column on both sides thereof.

2. In a aten. press having a plurality of Vertically adjustable platens, platen su orting means compris n two roups of supportin lugs am ed to the plate s, the lugs of one group be ng oifset laterally with respect to the lu s of the other group, and the lugs of each group being progressively shorter beginning with the uppermost lug of each group, a column associated with both grou s of lu s. two groups of vertically and rotatably adjustable collars mounted on the column, each collar having supporting fingers to engage the supporting lugs of both groups. the fingers of the collars of one group being offset laterally with respect to the fingers of the collars of the other group, and the fin ers of the collars of each rou being progressively lon er beginning with the finger of the uppermost collar of each group, so that when the press is closed and opened each lug will pass the fingers located thereabove without interference therefrom, and means for releasably securing the collars to the columns so as to space the adjustable platens any predetermined distance apart.

3. In a platen press having a plurality of vertically adjustable platens and platen supporting means, as defined in claim 2, further character ized in that each collar of both groups of adjustable collars has two oppositely extending supporting fingers of equal length, which fingers are provided with landings at different levels, so that a lug in one position of the fingers is supported at one level and in another position of the fingers is supported at a difierent level.

4. In a platen press having a plurality of vertically adjustable platens and platen supporting means, as defined in claim 2, furthercharacten ized in that the fingers of collars of one group extend outwardly from the ends of a diagonal through the collar, and the fingers of co lars of the other group extend outwardly from the ends of the opposite diagonal through t e collar.

5. In a platen press having a plurality of adjustable platens which are raised and lowered by a moving platen actuated by a ram within a cylinder, moving platen control means comprising a tube affixed to the moving platen and having a transverse hole therein, a rod sli'dable in the tube and having a series of transverse holes registerable with the hole of the tube. and a bolt insertable in the hole of the tub-e and in one of the series of holes of the rod to maintainthe rod and tube in immovable re ationship so that on the downward stroke of the ram, the moving platen is stopped by the engagement of the rod with a horizontal surface of the cylinder at a point predetermined from the spacings of the adjustable platens.

6. In a platen press having a plurality of vertically adjustable platens, platen supporting means comprising a group of supporting lugs afiixed to the platens, said lugs being progressviely shorter beginning with the uppermost lug of the group, a column associated with said group of lugs, a group of vertically and rotatably adjustable collars mounted on said column and each collar having supporting fingers to engage the supporting lugs, said fingers being progressively longer beginning with the finger of the uppermost collar so that when the press is closed and opened each lug will pass the fingers located thereabove without interference therefrom, and means for releasably securing the collars to the column so as to space the adjustable platens at varying distances apart.

7. The combination set forth in claim 6 further characterized in that each collar has two fingers extending in different radial directions and provided with landings at different elevations whereby rotation of a collar without changing its vertical position presents a different platen adjustment.

SOUTHARD N. BALDWIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 318,741 Hotchkiss et a1 May 26, 1885 652,813 Seiberling July 3, 1900 2,283,923 Hall May 26, 1942 2,313,623 Bungay Mar. 9, 1943 

